View full sizeChuck Crow / The Plain DealerIndians third base prospect Lonnie Chisenhall has caught the eye of coaches and management, but likely will open the season at Class AAA Columbus or Class AA Akron.GOODYEAR, Ariz. -- Shortly after the Indians selected Lonnie Chisenhall with their first-round pick in 2008, the phone in their draft room rang. It was the Boston Red Sox.

"The Red Sox were all set to take him," said Ross Atkins, Indians director of player development. "We had the 29th pick and they had the 30th pick that year. They were all excited. They thought he'd fallen to them."

View full sizeChuck Crow / PDLonnie Chisenhall says he's learned from his troubles in the past.Today, Chisenhall is in big-league camp, opening eyes and making impressions. So far, everything the Indians have seen and all the impressions they've formed have been good.

Manager Manny Acta used the word "delightful" to describe the way Chisenhall has swung the bat this spring. In Thursday's 5-5 tie against the Chicago White Sox, he tripled home a run against veteran pitcher Freddy Garcia. In Friday's 7-7 tie against the Angels, he walked in the ninth and reached second with one out, but the Indians couldn't deliver him with the winning run.

"It's tough to hit a baseball moving at different velocities," said Acta. "This guy is so quiet at the plate and so quick with his hands. He's very advanced for his age. It's delightful to see him out there competing with these big-league pitchers and holding his own at the plate."

Steve Smith, the Indians' third base and infield coach, compared him with a young Hank Blalock. Smith worked with the former All-Star third baseman in Texas from 2002 through 2006.

"He's impressive, just like Blalock was at his age," said Smith. "He's young, but he gets it. He gets the position, he gets the game. He looks like a big-leaguer out there."

Indians chatter

Here's a closer look at the Indians' Cactus League game Friday against the Los Angeles Angels and how it affects the position races that will be decided in spring training.

Final score: Indians 7, Angels 7, at Goodyear, Ariz.

Attendance: 3,717.

Rotation: Good day for Jake Westbrook; better day for Fausto Carmona. Westbrook allowed first three Angels to reach base and all scored on Mike Napoli's homer. He then settled down. Carmona threw strikes and went three scoreless innings in his Cactus League debut.

Bullpen: Another sharp outing for Rafael Perez, who pitched a 1-2-3 seventh with two strikeouts. Joe Smith isn't going to get to face lefties during the regular season if he keeps doing what he did in the ninth inning. He gave up three earned runs on three hits.

Catcher: Mike Redmond, whose job as backup is secure, went 2-for-3.

Outfield/bench: Trevor Crowe made a nice diving catch in the sixth and it turned into a double play on an appeal by the Indians. Jason Donald, who replaced the injured Asdrubal Cabrera at short in the fifth, showed he could get down a sacrifice bunt to keep a two-run sixth-inning rally going. Andy Marte, with a sacrifice fly in the fifth, refuses to go away.

Chisenhall, 21, was drafted out of Pitt Junior College in Greenville, N.C., as a shortstop. He moved to third base last year at Class A Kinston.

"I'm new here," said Smith. "I'd never seen him before. I would have never known he played anywhere else but third base. I like his bat, too."

OK, so there's a lot to like about the left-handed hitting Chisenhall. Baseball America rated him as the Indians' second-best prospect and No. 31 among its list of the game's top 100 hopefuls.

When he was a freshman at the University of South Carolina, however, he was not so likable. He and teammate Nick Fuller were expelled from school for stealing property valued at $2,000. He moved to Pitt J.C. and hit .410 (68-for-166) with 27 doubles, eight homers and 66 RBI for a team that went 41-15.

The Indians, who put a premium on character, did their homework before drafting Chisenhall.

"You hear 'wrong place, wrong time' a lot," said Atkins, "but with him that was the case. You can tell that in just how consistent he's been with us. He's been above average."

Chisenhall has been asked about the incident many times.

"I was young," he said. "I learned from my mistake. I think I've made great progress."

Chisenhall said he lives by two rules: "I just do what I can . . . be where I'm supposed to be and when I'm supposed to be there."

Wherever Chisenhall has gone, he's hit.

He hit .547 with nine homers and 37 RBI his senior year at Carteret (N.C.) High School. Before he was expelled at South Carolina, he was hitting .313 with one homer and 13 RBI. In his first year in pro ball, he hit .290 (80-for-276) with five homers and 45 RBI at Class A Mahoning Valley.

Last season, he hit .276 (107-for-388) with 18 homers and 79 RBI in 99 games at Class A Kinston. When the Indians promoted Chisenhall to Class AA Akron, he was second in the Carolina League in hits, RBI, homers and runs.

Travis Fryman, who managed Chisenhall at Mahoning Valley in 2008, said he's one of the most natural hitters he's ever seen.

"I've always just hit," said Chisenhall, who will open this season at Class AA Akron. "Hitting is my passion. Everyone wants to be a good hitter. I just happen to be lucky and blessed."

In 2007, Chisenhall was in the wrong place at the wrong time. In the near future, with Indians third baseman Jhonny Peralta a possible free agent at the end of the 2010 season, he finds himself in the right place at the right time.

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